Читать книгу The sexual life of woman in its physiological, pathological and hygienic aspects - E. Heinrich Kisch - Страница 13

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The average age at which menstruation begins in the negro women of Africa is from 10 to 13. In Algeria puberty occurs at 9 or 10 years. Among the Australian indigens, menstruation commonly begins as early as 8 years, and at the very latest at the age of 12 years. The data available concerning the indigens of the Oceanic Archipelago are extremely variable and inexact, but we cannot go far astray in stating the age of puberty among these to be from 10 to 13. In tropical South America girls begin to menstruate from the age of 9 to 14 years. The Indian women of North America begin to menstruate at the ages of 12, 13, 14, or even as late as 18 or 20. In the Arctic zone of North America and in Greenland the onset of menstruation is delayed till 17 and even till 23 years.

As regards the position in life and the upbringing years it has been shown by numerous observers that among the well-to-do classes, whose mode of living is luxurious, and whose social circumstances allow free play to the imagination, menstruation begins at an earlier age than among the working classes, whose life is one of want and privation. According to the statistical data of Mayer’s regarding 6,000 women, menstruation began:

	In women of the upper classes.	In women of the lower classes.
At the age of 13 years	11.73 per cent.	7.06 per cent.
At the age of 14 years	23.90 per cent.	13.33 per cent.
At the age of 15 years	22.83 per cent.	14.56 per cent.
At the age of 16 years	14.10 per cent.	16.53 per cent.
At the age of 17 years	9.60 per cent.	13.33 per cent.

From this table we learn that in nearly one-fourth of the girls of the upper classes puberty occurs at the age of 14, whilst in girls of the lower classes barely one-sixth begin to menstruate at this age. The average age at the first menstruation in girls belonging to the upper classes is seen to be 14.69 years, but in girls belonging to the lower classes, 16.00 years. According to other observers the average age at the first menstruation is:

	Brierre de Boismont. (Paris.)	Tilt. (London.)	Krieger. (Berlin.)	Ravn. (Copenhagen.)
Amongst gentle folk and the rich	13y. 8m.	13y. 5½m.	14y. 1m.	14y. 3m.
Amongst the well-to-do middle classes	14y. 5m.	14y. 3½m.	15y. 5m.	15y. 5½m.
Amongst the lower classes	14y. 10m.		16y. 8m.	16y. 5½m.

Comparative observations on women living in towns and women living in the country show also that in the former, menstruation begins on the average at an earlier age. According to Brierre de Boismont, the average age at the first menstruation is:

In Paris	14 years,	6 months.
In small towns	14 years,	9 months.
In country districts	14 years,	10 months.

Similarly it was found by Ravn that menstruation first occurred:

In Copenhagen at the average age of	15 years, 7 months.
In industrial towns	15 years, 4 months.
In country districts	16 years, 5 months.

Mayer states that the average age at which the first menstruation occurs is:

In townswomen	15.98 years.
In countrywomen	15.20 years.

In Italy, according to Calderini, in a thousand instances, menstruation begins at the age of 14 in 280, at the age of 15 in 219, at the age of 13 in 205, at the age of 12 in 116, at the age of 16 in 89, at the age of 17 in 55, at the age of 18 in 14, at the age of 11 in 7, at the age of 10 in 6, and at the age of 20 in 6 instances. In girls attending town schools, the first menstruation most commonly occurs in the months of June and August; but in girls attending country schools most commonly in the spring months.

A certain hereditary predisposition is so far determinant in the matter of the early or late onset of the first menstruation, that from a knowledge of the age at which menstruation began in the mother, we are able with great probability to predict the age at which it will begin in the daughter. Among fifty cases which I investigated with this point in view, I found forty-one in which the daughters of mothers who had begun to menstruate early began themselves to menstruate early, usually indeed in about the same year of life; or conversely that when the mother had begun to menstruate late, late onset of menstruation was usually to be observed in the daughter also. Tilt relates a case in which a woman began to menstruate at the age of fourteen, and her daughter and granddaughter both began to menstruate at the same age. Courty observed a mother who began to menstruate at the age of eleven, and whose eight daughters all began to menstruate at the same age.

Gynecologists agree in stating that girls of sanguine temperament and powerful constitution begin to menstruate earlier than weakly and phlegmatic individuals. Tilt describes a peculiar ovarian temperament, in which menstruation begins early; such women have as a rule striking nervous sensibilities, with a dark complexion and glistening, longing eyes, always surrounded by dark rings.

The opinion is general that in girls with black hair, dark eyes, thick skin, and dark complexion, menstruation begins earlier than in blondes with blue eyes and delicate white skin. Brierre de Boismont states in this connection that not fair hair only, but also chestnut-tinted locks, indicate a late onset of menstruation. L. Mayer found that:

Of blondes.	Of brunettes.
17.20 per cent.	18.84 per cent.	began to menstruate at the age of	14
16.89 per cent.	18.02 per cent.	began to menstruate at the age of	15
15.14 per cent.	16.59 per cent.	began to menstruate at the age of	16

According to the same author, the average age at which menstruation begins is:

In blondes	15.55 years.
In brunettes	15.26 years.

As regards race, it is well known that in Jewesses menstruation begins at an early age. According to Joachim the age of puberty varies very greatly among the different races inhabiting Hungary. The first menstruation appears:

In Slavonic girls between the ages of	16 and 17
In Magyar	15 and 16
In Jewish	14 and 15
In Styrian	13 and 14